Monday, October 29, 2007

Great Blogs of Gluten... and more

Of course with my passion for collecting information on the evils of gluten and other foods, I always enjoy a good read. I'd like to share some of them with you that I thought were particularly exceptional either because of the wit, the content, the argument... or just because it has a catchy title.

I love this article about non-being (wu) and gluten intolerance. I've had many of the same thoughts myself regarding how it might be related on a more global level.

And what she says about yu and wu have been very true in my life. I'm constantly talking about what I'm working through. Once I've worked through it and feel like I have attained an excellent understanding, it becomes passe, something taken for granted... and in a way, I lose interest.

Fortunately, since trying to help people with gluten intolerance (and other food issues) is a constantly evolving project with new things to learn all the time, I've no worries about losing interest due to lack of new knowledge that I'd like to acquire. (Isn't that why we've all been to at least five medical specialists... often more... and take an average of 11 years to get a diagnosis?)

Erika has compiled a great list of ingredients to watch out for in personal care products. I've noticed recently that some companies have come out with organic lines of makeup (read: easy to understand ingredient lists... as well as being organic). I passed on the note and look forward to seeing what she ends up finding.Up to the end of 2007Jeena's Kitchen

Wonderful information in general, Brian was around when I first came to the gluten free world. I'm not sure if he was new too or had been around for a while. Great info. about the Toronto area and he posts at the Toronto Celiac blog when he travels. He keeps great notes and the gluten free community would suffer a great loss if he was suddenly able to consume gluten!

My latest find... and I'm thrilled that someone out there is thinking the same way I am! (As I continue to work on my lip balm recipes and deoderants for people who cannot tolerate petroleum products or gluten.)

She's just starting out so give her some time to build. My hat's off to her though. - It really is a daunting task!

For those who want a wee bit of a start on cosmetics, I've found that mineral makeup (make sure there's no talc in them - in the high end ones there usually isn't) is a great starting place.

Clinique has gf mascara, lipstick and eyeliner - again - you're paying top dollar but it's worth it not to become ill (or have a loved one become ill) because you want to be 'pretty'. They will call their headoffice right from the makeup counter at Sears. This has been the most helpful company I've found so far.

MAC also has some gluten free lipsticks but you have to know which colour you want them to give you feedback on first (at least that's how they used to operate).

I have found the cheaper makeup companies to be fairly useless about giving out information. Revlon, Maybelline, etc. give no answers at all - IF you can get hold of them. Mind you, I haven't tried to contact them for a few years because I just eventually gave up. But I still miss my Great Lash! (I wonder, is it still in that green and pink container?)

Burt's Bees will tell you that they're gluten free but can't seem to tell you what the source of their vitamin E is - so we steer clear until they can answer the question. At this point I've given up calling them. I like their line but I have to be able to be sure about sources!

I'm sure that on some other realm this lady and I are somehow related. When we first met it was unbelievable how our lives parallelled eachother. We were both rather amazed.

That's where the similarities end though... perhaps in a decade we will be able to re-examine things and see if we continued on in similar patterns. For now though, suffice it to say that if you want a new recipe every day - and I *mean* e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y... her blog is the place to go. Even with a broken hip, she's going strong!

Things that we do not share in common: She is a vegan. I am a *big* meat eater. She eats nightshades. I try and avoid them.

So, she fills an important informational gap in my blog. She covers the vegan aspect of a gf diet and for people who love tomatoes and potatoes, she's the queen.

I love her blog because Laura is a force of nature who is determined to make the gf life work... not just for her own family but for everyone else's family... and she's trying to do it and not sound crazy when she does... right...

She also has an awesome lunch kit section to show what kids can go to school with... something that I, as a homeschool Mom, don't have to think about but is still enormously applicable and helpful to the majority of Moms and kids in our gf land.

I love this site because these two fabulous ladies share their very personal stories and together, they really illustrate the fact that symptoms can really look so very different from one child to the next.

They've got some great lunch box menus and mix reviews that are extremely helpful for people who don't want to make up their own gf flour mixes.

FOOD SCIENCE

You have to know that this is my favourite section! I am continually learning new tricks for cooking better, more nutritious meals. Some, I learn on my own and try to pass on to others. Some, I learn from others who have the same passion as I do. So, when that happens, not only do I feel a certain amount of cooking freedom that comes with the new knowledge but I also feel connected within a community that is as passionate as I am about getting 'the word' out to everyone who will take the time to listen or read... and continue learning.

The first is a blog that I came across completely by mistake and made a favourite during the 2007 winter holidays. I have placed the connection at their science of sauces article because I could never have said it as well as is done there.

Since sauce lends tremendous flexibility to every recipe in your repetoire (you can make ten different sauces for the same recipe and it will seem a whole new 'kettle of fish' simply because you're putting a different sauce on your 'fish'.)

I'm often telling people who e-mail me about sauce trouble, that they are boiling their starches. Straight starches (arrowroot, tapioca, etc.) go gummy (or snotty - sorry) when they are boiled and this article explains why:

I don't know what the letters behind his name mean, but I do know someone who writes important information down for others to read is worth following. This is one of the few doctors that I've actually seen put in writing that seizures can be related to food ingestion (gluten).

11 comments:

Hi, this is Erika fro the Gluten Free Cosmetic Counter. Totally agree with Kim on the "major cosmetic brands being somewhat useless" thought. And even if you do find a few products that don't intentionally contain gluten, you have zero info on cross contamination. And for celiacs who are dedicated to their digestive safety, cross contamination really counts. It sure does in our house.

Thanks, Kim, for the kind words. It is a daunting task, but I'm sure many women, including myself, will be all the more beautiful for it!!

Just as a point, you don't necessarily have to be a gold star celiac to need a contamination free home.

We use the word celiac because people understand it but really we consider ourselves to be "gluten sensitive". Like all sensitivities, some people have to be more careful than others.

I love hearing about people like Erika who also create a gluten free home for their families' safety! I know that when I did this, I was pleasantly surprised by my own increase in health status and quality of life!

It's worth a two to six week trial. Most people don't realize how gluten negatively affects their lives until they take it out (completely) - and then add it back in. It can really hit you like a tonne of bricks!

Then when you take it back out again, it's such an enormous *relief*!

For those who don't know - even a gluteny kiss can make some people quite ill. We found that out the hard way whenever my son would get kissed by his gluteny grandparents (who love him to pieces).

We have been told, and have read in several places, for children who are not diagnosed as celiac that they should still have some gluten in their diets. Evidently, in children the complete elimination of gluten can trigger gluten sensitivity in some way where it never was before.

We do let our kids have regular lunch at school, and eat glutenous stuff when we visit people (I do that, too). But at home it is all GF.

I have heard from someone who has diabetes that going gluten free has really helped her digestively. She isn't celiac, but she said she just feels better when she avoids gluten. I have usually had a pretty solid digestive system, so I have not noticed any particular difference in how I feel eating GF at home. However, there are millions of people who are just more sensitive (even if not totally celiac) in digestive ways that it can really make sense to do. I truly do believe it can make a difference.

I have a neighbor who is a doctor. She just told me she is going to have to make some massive diet changes because of digestive symptoms. I'm not sure if she needs to go totally GF, but I am going to prepare a "short list" of things I do to make her transition easier.

We've only been in the world of "gluten free" since last summer, so I'm sure I will absorb much more information about lots of things as time passes. I feel somewhat experience, somewhat newbie.

Also, many people who will never experience true celiac disease may only have neurological issues present like, depression, fibro, headaches, seizures, ataxia (of course not all together but these are only a few things that I've seen resolve on a gf diet).

Science is only now beginning to see that neurological implications can manifest without 'apparent' intestinal mucosal alterations:

"However, more recent studies have emphasized that a wider spectrum of neurologic syndromes may be the presenting extraintestinal manifestation of gluten sensitivity with or without intestinal pathology."

I know that my first symptom is headache, my second is depression. I have no bowel issues that are as blatant as these two neurological symptoms.

And yes, I have to be extremely careful... Lindt chocolate, who used barley malt has been a prime cause of symptom upheaval for me on several occassions!

:embarrassed: I kept trying it because I really didn't want it to be true. :embarrassed:

Very interesting. I will check out those links. As I said, always ready to learn more. Probably tough to say that going gluten free ever hurt anyone. And yeah, embarassment for my husband (wishing things weren't true, etc) has been present - as it is for all major adjustments!

It seems you have a great opportunity to educate many people about such sensitivities (even beyond gluten). Celiac and many other food "sensitivities" can be so difficult to diagnose. I am sure that my husband's symptoms went on for at least 5 years noticeably (in hindsight), if not more. Hard to say.

You are a good knowledgeable resource. Thanks for going back and forth with me on this. I hope that anyone who follows your link to me can find me even half as helpful. :)

You are right about representing all facets. It is way too enormous!! Just the personal products alone, I am finding, are nearly overwhelming to check one at a time. Even for myself, I'll be happy to have a more useable resource to make the checking simpler.

I am not so personally overwhelmed by the *whole* GF thing since it has been over a year since his diagnosis. That is an advantage right now that allows me to press forward. Lots of running around aimlessly at the start, which I know is very common. Took me 3 hours driving all around town to find safe sour cream the first month!

This (personal products) is a niche area which could use some expanding, so I will just focus on this and let others whose expertise lies in other areas fill in those places. You can't do it alone - can't imagine what it must have been like several years ago when info was not nearly this handy. This is definitely a positive use of technology to reach others.

I just found your blog today! I am really impressed. Thanks for such a great resource list. I have a gluten free home. I am just too sensitive to clean up after a gluten-eating family! We all had to be gluten-free :)

Actually, you may be doing your family the biggest favour of their lives.

It was only because our son was so very sensitive that we stopped allowing gluten in our house. We really noticed that the odd occasion that we consumed gluten outside of our home, made us feel really horrible. We have all been strictly gluten free now for five years. We'd never go back!